transference

[trans-fur-uhns, trans-fer-uhns]

noun

1. the act or process of transferring.

2. the fact of being transferred.

3. Psychoanalysis.

   1. the shift of emotions, especially those experienced in childhood, from one person or object to another, especially the transfer of feelings about a parent to an analyst.

   2. displacement.

transference

/ -frəns, ˈtrænsfərəns, ˌtrænsfəˈrɛnʃəl /

noun

1. the act or an instance of transferring or the state of being transferred

2. psychoanal the redirection of attitudes and emotions towards a substitute, such as towards the analyst during therapy

Other Word Forms

• nontransference noun
• retransference noun
• transferential adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of transference¹

From the New Latin word trānsferentia, dating back to 1675–85. See transfer, -ence

Example Sentences

But we all saw how that transference of risk worked out for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Lehman Brothers and Bear Sterns.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

“How, in all those years in therapy, have you never heard of transference?”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Ross also points to a similar scene of transference involving Ellis-Taylor looking directly at us, the viewers, with the love with which she would look at her grandson.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Eli feels a strong connection to Noah, sometimes feeling what he feels, but as a man of science, he frames it as “some extreme case of transference-counter transference.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The training helps chaplains learn how to serve untethered to their faith so “transference or reactivity doesn’t get in the way of really attending to people’s needs,” Johnson said.

Read more on Seattle Times

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